The Prophet of Decadence (born Drod Vacrum and also known as the Minister of Questioning) is a San 'Shyumm who was born on High Charity and eventually became a rather obscure Ministry Prophet. Despite his obscurity, he eventually became a member of the High Council in the wake of The Covenant Civil War. Once the civil war began, Decadence made sure to leave High Charity before his life could be threatened. Following his escape, he ultimately sided with the Covenant Loyalists and commanded a CCS-class Battlecruiser during the Battle of Installation 00 and managed to save his ship from destruction. It was after the Death of the High Prophet of Truth that Decadence then lead the reconstruction of the Covenant into the Sovereign Covenant Empire and started yet another war against Humanity. He is the only Sovereign leader of the SCE.

Contents

High Charity years

Minister of Questioning

Drod Vacrum became the Minister of Questioning during the Age of Doubt, following a mysterious and un-investigated assassination of a previous Minister. As the Minister of Questioning, his duty to the covenant was, as his namesake, Questioning the actions of Humanity, and even the society of the covenant. It was rumored throughout High Charity that his questioning may have caused the Grunt Rebellion though this was never truthfully proven. It was also this part of his life that he made his rather biased views towards Elites clear, as he was known for blaming their entire species for numerous incidents that would happen in High Charity such as crimes against religion, murders, and most events that he himself was often rumored to have caused, which include a massive hostage incident in which three members of the council were held captive in a minor building by Brutes and ended up being slaughtered in the climax of said incident, and another incident which involved a pack of vicious Kig-Yar that took hostage of a Phantom and attacked the Sanctum of the Hierarchs during a council session which ended in the Phantom being shot down and the surviving Kig-Yar being placed in the prison chambers of High Charity. Though no true evidence of his involvement were found, it was speculated from his behavior and subtle support of the assailants that he may have directed the events in secret. In his final years as the Minister of Questioning, he spoke out against the High Prophet of Tolerance, High Prophetess of Obligation, and High Prophet of Restraint by speaking against their leadership. This ultimately lead to him being deposed by the Hierarchs, and gave him a motive when the Minister of Fortitude approached him with a plan to become the next Hierarchs of the Covenant. Drod accepted the offer, and aided Fortitude in his plot to depose the three Hierarchs that deposed him as Minister with Fortitude organizing the plot. Despite helping him alongside other prophets, Vacrum was not appointed to High Prophet of the Covenant while the others became the Prophets of Truth, Mercy, and Regret. In-fact, it took a long time before the former Minister became a member of the High Council and that was only thanks to the Assassination of another councilor Prophet.

High Council Member

It was in the wake of the Trial of the future Arbiter that Vacrum finally became a Council member due to the mysterious Assassination of another Prophet that was never investigated thanks to his own objection during a Council session. The only trial that the former Minister of Questioning truthfully attended was the trial of Thel 'Vadamee in which he was among the many Councilors that were against Thel's side. Upon announcement that 'Vadamee was to become the next Arbiter, he was not pleased. However, he did not have time to cause a public up-roar, as soon enough the Arbiter was believed to be dead and the Elites were beginning to be replaced by the Brutes which was one of the many things the Prophet would support during his days as Minister. Even this, however, was short-lived as soon enough the Covenant Civil War began.

The Covenant Civil War & The New Covenant

Escaping High Charity

Once the Covenant Civil War began, it was first a matter of surviving the Battle of High Charity. Vacrum himself managed to escape alongside two other Prophets and a small amount of Brute escorts just as the battle began. As the Escorts fought through the enemy Elite forces, Drod decided to take the Plasma Rifle from a corpse of a Minor Elite and use it against any further foes. It was around the death of the Prophet of Mercy that the group reached a leftover Phantom. With a Brute driving, they managed to escape just as the Flood began their infestation of the space station capital. It was following this escape that Drod Vacrum took the name of The Prophet of Decadence and became the commander of Battlecruiser Loyalty and Judgement.

Commanding a Ship

Decadence took a minor role in the final stretch of the Human-Covenant War, with the first being among the ships present at the excavation at Voi which lead to Truth finding the portal to the Ark. Once the Portal opened, Loyalty and Judgement was one of the first ships into the portal following the dreadnaught. Loyalty and Judgement made it's final battle appearance during the Battle of Installation 00 in which it was among the Loyalist cruisers engaged by Separatists above the installation. The ship itself stayed in the rear of it's side as the battle began, and Decadence deployed most his own forces down nearly immediately as the battle began. His tactics themselves mostly relied on attacking his enemies swiftly and not letting them get much hits on his ship by following the first strike with relentless strikes. Commanding his mobile forces of Phantoms and Seraphs he made sure his forces would have the least casualties while the others, including the two prophets alongside his escape team from High Charity, perished in the fight. At the end of the battle, he learned of Truth's citadel being infiltrated by John-117 and the Arbiter. Despite the option to risk saving the Hierarch, Decadence decided instead to retreat and save his own life instead.

Plans for a Newer Covenant

Following the downfall of the Covenant Loyalists and the Death of Truth, Decadence took the remaining ships and left the areas controlled by the Separatists in order to focus on his own form of a Covenant. Featuring Drones, Brutes, Jakals, Prophets and a minority of Hunters the New Covenant Empire was formed around July of 2554. The New Covenant was first made from the original Writ of Union as the governing Document and was essentially the original Covenant without the Elites or Grunts present in the forming. Alongside Decadence as leaders were the Prophetess of Lecherousness and the Prophet of Optimism. The Hierarchs of the New Covenant together began planning on seizing territory for their government. The home-systems of the resident species were the first territory, and soon after the New Covenant worked on seizing surrounding systems and planets. This eventually lead to a skirmish with a Human colony in 2570 and to the UNSC learning the New Covenant. The resulting battle resulted in a Covenant Victory and to the Prophet of Decadence himself ordering the Original Covenant to be "Avenged" through the destruction of both the Separatists and the UNSC. This speech itself lead to the Separatists' primary Supercarrier being struck with a strike only to be repelled by an overwhelming response. Soon enough, another war was brought on involving the Three factions.

Betraying the Other Hierarchs

It was early in the Second Human & Separatists-New Covenant war that Decadence plotted a scheme similar to Truth's very own plan. That plan, was to betray the other Hierarchs that were at his side. Decadence started this plan by sending the Prophet of Optimism on a path heading directly to The Elite homeworld by claiming to be weaker from their first attack on the Separatists. In the following fight, Optimism was killed by Separatist forces with little effort. Pleased over this, his next target was Lecherousness. The Prophetess was sent to the same location as well by Decadence's deceiving information that a Halo ring was present there. Rather than death, Lecherousness was captured and held prisoner which lead to Decadence abandoning her rather than having her rescued or Negotiating with the UNSC for her release.

It was after his betrayal of Lecherousness that Decadence took his role as Hierarch to rewrite the laws of the New Covenant in order to convert it into his own form of the Covenant. The new structure of the covenant made him the sole leader and even got rid of the council. With Decadence as the only leader, he was able to order the Writ of Union remade, and the Empire renamed into the Sovereign Covenant Empire. He immediately began plans to attack the UNSC and the Separatists, though with a more Brutal strategy than the previous Hierarchs. It was during this time that he made many dealings with a corporation and it's leader Zag as well.

Though not physically present for the battle, Decadence was the most likely one who ordered the attacks and was confirmed by the Prophetess of Lecherousness to the Separatist and UNSC leaders as the leader of the New Covenant Empire, which was now the Sovereign Covenant Empire. It is most likely that this battle was the first of his plans of attacks (mentioned above), though it is notable that he was not involved in the Battle of Tài Sum. It was sometime after this that he made an assignment to send Brutes and Hunters onboard the Ultimate Elegance alongside the pregnant Prophetess of Promiscuity, which was heavily against the will of her husband the Prophet of Squalor, but even though Squalor was the Prime Ambassador of Decadence's empire and the Second-in-command, Decadence overruled him.

Personality

The Prophet of Decadence himself has a rather Cold and Sadistic personality, which he has kept through out his life as a Minor Prophet, a High Councilor, and even a Hierarch. This personality is primarily shown once he formed the Sovereign Covenant Empire, which he rules over as the only leader. He rules over his Empire with a tight grip and Strict Laws and Law Enforcement with the Death Penalty given for most crimes and training for Military forces being far more demanding than previously. His own citizens seem to see him as a Tyrant, such as mentioning his complete ownership of the Tax funds and complete control of where said funds go into, along with controlling what technology the citizens are allowed to use as well. This tyrannical rule over the Covenant lead to numerous attempts at a Resistance, only for the rebels to be shot down by the advanced weapons of the Empire.

He also has a rather obvious sign of Egotism, as Merciful Absolution has monuments dedicated to him littering numerous buildings and even his personal quarters have a massive statue of him at the entrance. He also tends to believe that he was chosen by the Gods.

Xenophobia

Another instance of his personality is his disliking to other Species. This was primarily shown in his days as the Minister of Questioning in which he would make numerous offensive remarks regarding Elites and openly say they should be replaced with the Brutes in the military (which ended up occurring anyway). However, he is shown to be less offensive towards Jakals and Brutes alongside his own species, as he gives them more military control in the Sovereign Covenant Empire. His views towards the other species are that Drones are mindless slaves, Humans are disgusting Heathens, and Hunters are nothing more than Equipment. It is these beliefs that seem to cause the Assassination attempts.

Trivia

Following in line with other Hierarchs, his name is more of the opposite of his Personality and Appearance. Decadent means marked by decay or decline, and Decadence is the state of being Decadent. This is the opposite due to his age, as he is the youngest of the three leaders of the New Covenant Empire and in extension the Sovereign Covenant Empire.

He is somewhat similar to the Prophet of Truth, even having similar plans.

He owns his personal variant of the Premonition which is nearly always present in his holy sanctum on-board Merciful Absolution. He is not known to use it very often, however.

Decadence is essentially going to be the lead Antagonist in the works of EternalSonic1997

This article, Prophet of Decadence, was written by EternalSonic1997. Please do not edit this fiction without the writer's permission.